UPDATE - Issue 26 - Summer 2006
The NHS Library for Health says
Diets rich in lycopene (coloured pigment found in tomato based foods), cruciferous vegetable such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, soya produce, Vitamin E and Selenium have been shown to be protective against the development of prostate cancer. Such effects are mediated by way of naturally occurring food-based antioxidants, phytochemicals and by way of apoptotic (cell killing) effects. By contrast, foods containing high quantities of saturated animal fat are associated with an increased risk of disease, possibly mediated through prostaglandins or by altered angiogenesis (supplying blood to cancer cells). Recent laboratory research suggests that eating oily fish might help protect men with prostate cancer from developing a more aggressive form of the disease.
In practical terms, the general public should be encouraged to eat a healthy balanced diet in the hope that it may reduce the incidence of prostate cancer. Ideally, such a diet would contain at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, less saturated fat (try to reduce intake from 25% of calories to about 10%), less red meat (<90gm red meat per week) and baked, steamed or poached rather than fried food.